Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General William H Sorrell and the Department of Public Service won a victory yesterday in a ruling by a three-judge Licensing Board of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The ruling grants the State of Vermont a hearing on several of its challenges related to Entergy’s planned use of the Vermont Yankee decommissioning trust fund. “We remain steadfast that Entergy must use the decommissioning fund appropriately,” said Attorney General Sorrell. “We are glad that the Licensing Board has agreed to let our challenges proceed.”
Department of Public Service Commissioner Christopher Recchia also praised the recent ruling: “The decision to grant a hearing clearly shows that the Licensing Board and the NRC are beginning to see the significance of the non-decommissioning expenditures that Entergy is proposing, and giving notice of withdrawals from the fund is a critical first step toward preserving Vermont’s legitimate interests in use of the trust fund over the long run. We look forward to presenting the details of our concerns to the Board and building on today’s success both to ensure expedient decommissioning and gain a meaningful role for Vermont ratepayers,” he said.
Entergy is currently required to give 30-days notice before withdrawing any money from the Vermont Yankee decommissioning trust fund. In September 2014, Entergy filed for an amendment to its license to eliminate this requirement. The State believes that Entergy should continue to give notice before all withdrawals so that there is oversight of withdrawals from the fund. Although the Licensing Board did not allow all of the State’s contentions to proceed to a hearing, it found that the State has raised two challenges that warrant a hearing on the “health and environmental concerns about the license amendment because the decommissioning fund exists to ensure that companies will be able to decontaminate the site.” The Board further held that the State’s arguments “provide the ‘sound basis’ and documentary support required to support a contention asserting that a licensee will contravene the NRC’s regulations.”
“We look forward to seeing this through and making sure Entergy uses this trust fund for cleaning up the site,” said Attorney General Sorrell. “While it might benefit Entergy to use this trust fund for other purposes, that is not in the best interest of Vermont and we will continue to strongly advocate for the State.”
Vermont AG: Sep 1, 2015